Random thoughts (two, actually)

Wednesday

Jun 4, 2014 at 10:15 AM

Some random thoughts as spring tournament season gets into full swing...

--I'd love to see the NHIAA abandon its decades-old format for baseball/softball tournaments. Scrap the 16-team, single elimination bracket for something along the lines of an eight- or four-team double elimination bracket. Shrinking the playoff field would make the regular season more meaningful, and double elimination (or a best-of-three series) would protect a championship-caliber team from seeing its season go up in smoke with one bad game or one bad inning. Baseball, and to a lesser extent softball, is a sport where a single game is not always representative of how good a team is overall. The biggest concern, of course, would be protecting pitchers' arms. As the tournament is set up now, no team can extend its season longer than four extra games. A double-elimination format could require a team to play up to five (if it's a four-team tournament) or seven (if eight-team) games. But the American Legion tournaments are all double-elimination, and they're usually squeezed into five days. The NHIAA could mitigate the impact on pitchers' arms by spreading a double-elimination tournament over two or even three weeks.--Anna Noble made no apologies for her second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at last Sunday's Division I state track meet, nor should she. The Spaulding High School junior told me earlier in the season she had her sights set on a D-I record in the event, but on Sunday finished 1.21 seconds behind Winnacunnet's Ann Sheehy, who was running on her home track. After the race, Noble made no excuses, but did not hesitate to say she had been up until 4 a.m. the night before after enjoying her junior prom. Since the D-I meet had been postponed from Friday to Sunday because of weather, Noble decided for herself to have fun at her prom, get as much sleep as she reasonably could, use Sunday's meet to qualify for the Saturday's Meet of Champions (which she did) and then focus all of her track energy into that meet. Plus, she noted, she's only a junior and still has next year to contend for the D-I record (which, by the way, is 43.87 seconds, set in 1997). Some might say that Noble, upon learning the D-I meet was postponed, should have cut her night short at the prom and made sure she did everything she could to perform her best on Sunday. Give me a break. Not only did she make a reasonable decision based on her long-term goals, she stood behind her decision when asked about it. It might have been different had Spaulding been a contender for the team title and points were a priority, but that wasn't the case. Please send comments to jdoyle@fosters.com. Also, I invite you to follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/JohnDoyle603.